Walnut Wall Cabinet

Israel Martin describes the process of making a wall cabinet with two side drawers using two species of walnut

Table of Contents
Wooden cabinet with a single door against wall.

Making small cabinets is always a good way to try out different techniques and design options; it’s a bit like making a mock-up, but you have a real, usable piece at the end. In this case I wanted to use a darker wood than my last wall cabinet (see F&C 321), and also mix different colours: American walnut for the carcass, maple for the door frame and European walnut for the door panel. I also wanted to try out different positions for the drawers. All of these factors would make the project more complex, but also more fun to build!

Woodwork with shaving plane, wood shavings on bench
1. The board of American walnut for the carcass
Woodwork tools on a carpentry workbench.
2. Making the sliding dovetail females for the top piece
Handmade wooden tool on a carpentry workbench.
3. Making the sliding dovetail females for the top of the sides
Woodworking square tool on a wooden workbench.
4. Checking the joint for squareness
Woodworking tools on a workbench in a workshop.
5. Making the sliding dovetail females on the bottom part of the sides
Wooden cabinet frame in a workshop setting.
6. Dry-fitting the structure’s main joinery
Woodworking bench vice in workshop.
7. Making rebates on the carcass sides with the kerfing plane
Carpenter planing wood on a workbench with shavings.
8. Adjusting the rebates with the shoulder plane
Woodwork bench with plane and joint.
9. Checking the stiles on the rebates

Making the carcass with sliding dovetails

here are lots of ways of making carcasses. American furniture maker Garrett Hack uses sliding dovetail joinery a lot, and I wanted to try this variation. After dimensioning all the carcass pieces by hand, I started with the joinery. In this cabinet, the sides have sliding dovetail males in the top end and females in the inside bottom part. The top has the female sliding dovetails, which allows it to be flat at the top and also means you can make a decorative chamfer. The bottom is in between the sides. The sides are rebated in the frontso I can make almost all the joinery all the way through.

The back is held into grooves on the sides and a stopped groove on the top. All the shelves except for the centre one are made just with dados. The centre shelf has a rebate so the bottom will act as a drawer kicker for the side drawers. Once the joinery was complete, I moved on to making the edge inlays. To do this, I had to glue up the carcass except for the top, so I could plane the inlays after that. After planing the inlays flush, I applied shellac and then glued up the top with the rest of the carcass.

Making the inside drawers

The inside drawers are positioned on one side. The structure to hold them has a side piece that is joined to the shelves with sliding dovetails and also joined to the lower piece with through dovetails. The lower piece goes into the side with a dado. The top drawer is held by walnut guides inside a dado; these guides work as drawer runners and kicker. There is also a piece that goes in to the right side behind the carcass front stile, which covers the two drawer guides of the right part.

I used cherry for the drawer fronts and maple for the back and sides. After making the drawers with through dovetails, I made a veneer from thuja burl. This wood is quite brittle so it had be sawn and planed very carefully. The veneer was added to the drawer fronts. After the veneering, I adjusted the fit of the drawers when they were in place.

Close-up of dovetail wood joints in furniture.
10. Detail of the stile fitting on the lower part
Close-up of dovetail joint in wooden furniture.
11. Detail of the joint between the stile, side and top
Wood planks and tool on workshop table.
12. Making the joinery for the middle shelf
Hands working on wood with tool in workshop.
13. Bevelling the carcass top
Woodworking tools and materials on workshop bench.
14. Planing the carcass smooth before gluing up the top
Woodworking project on a workshop table.
15. Applying shellac before gluing up the top
Wooden box secured with clamps on workbench.
16. Final carcass glue-up
Wooden box with removable sliding panels on workbench.
17. Making the back of the carcass
Woodworking project close-up with wooden components.
18. Structural details of the inside drawers
Wooden cabinet being built in workshop with clamps.
19. Dry fit to check the drawers’ structure
Woodworking clamps securing furniture pieces together.
20. Gluing up the drawers
Wooden shelving inside handcrafted cabinet workshop.
21. Making the parts for the drawers
Wooden drawers with dovetail joints in workshop
22. Testing the drawers without veneer
Woodworking tools on a workbench.
23. Sawing thuja burl for the veneer
Handcrafted wooden furniture on a workshop table.
24. Detail of the veneer before gluing it up
Open wooden cabinet showing unique grain pattern.
25. The veneered drawer fronts
Two handcrafted wooden boxes on workshop table.
26. Detail of the drawers finished with shellac
Wooden box assembly with blue tape corners.
27. The front piece that covers the side drawers
Wooden shelf with a modern design
28. The space made for the side drawers
Handcrafted wooden furniture, carpenter's workshop background.
29. The structure ready for the drawers
Wooden joint in woodworking workshop, tools nearby.
30. Making the side drawers from maple and pear

Making the side drawers

First, I had to make a hole in the carcass sides for the side drawers to fit into. Then I needed to made the structure that would hold the side drawers; this is the middle shelf plus a front piece that covers the drawers and also acts as a drawer guide. There is also a lower shelf covered by the front piece. Both shelves are joined with dados. Over the lower shelf, I had to glue two drawer runners flush with the bottom of the side drawer hole. The drawers are made from figured pear wood and maple. They were really fun to make because they are quite small at 20mm high by 45mm wide.

The door

I wasn’t sure that the mix of woods here would work, but once it was finished I was happy with the combination. I used maple for the door frame, and it was joined with haunched mortises and tenons. The door panel is made of bookmatched European walnut from a tree I cut down several years ago. Once I glued up the door, I fitted it in place but left a little bit of excess to remove once the hinges were installed. This way the door will have smaller gaps all around and I can adapt it in case everything is not 100% square in the carcass.

Wooden dovetail joint on a workbench
31. Detail of the small drawer front pins
Close-up of wooden dovetail joint in furniture.
32. One of the completed side drawers
Wooden cabinet door with visible joinery detail.
33. Detail of the interior of the side drawers
Wood plank clamped on workbench for woodworking
34. Gluing up the bookmatched panels for the door
Vintage woodworking hand plane on workbench
35. Making the groove for the panel on the stiles
Wooden panel on workbench in workshop.
36. Looking for the best grain for the panel
Woodworking table with panel and frame pieces.
37. Joinery dry fit
Wooden panel clamped for woodworking project on table.
38. Gluing up the door
Crafted wooden cabinet door in a workshop.
39. The door before fitting it in place
Crafted wooden cabinet in carpenter's workshop.
40. The finished door (bevelled outside)
Wooden cabinet with open door, shelves, and drawers.
41. The finished door (inside)
Woodwork bench with hand plane and wood shavings.
42. The European walnut blank before sawing it

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ISRAEL MARTIN

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